Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1887-12-16
gagged in all kinds of industries go, 4ss are

Gageu In all KINDS OF f,ufus scD aTo
employ cd In agricu ture. 4,O14.2S In pro.
fessional and personal services, ,499, $40 OF
which are domestics, servants and labor
ers, while l,sl0,2 d are employ ed in trade
and transportation and & 81 Z are classed
as employ es at manufacturing and mining.
For present purposes, however the late
number given should be con -iderably re-
duced. Without attempting to enumer-
ate all, IL will be conceded that there
should be deducted from these, which IL
includes, 30. l43 carpenters and loiners,
30, 40 milliners dressmakers and seam
stresses. In 10 blacksmiths, 1873, ,o6 tailors
and tailoresses, 1000 masons, 1924 butch
ers l,aO9 takers, -, l>2 plasterers, and
4,s6l manufacturing agricultural nipple
ments. leaving 20 3Ocb persons employed
in manufacturing industries such as are
claimed to be benefited by IA high tariff.
To these the appeal is made to save their
employment and maintain their wages 10y
resisting q change There should be no
disposition TO answer such suggestions 10y
the allegations that they are IN u minority
among those who labor and therefore
should forego an advantage in the inter
est of low prices for the ma GRITTY. Their
compensation as II NAV be affected by tho
operations of tariff laws should at all
times be scrupulously kept in view; and
yet, with slight re- ectlon, they Will
not overlook the .act that they are
consumers with the rest that they
too. have their own wants and those OF
their families to supply from their earn
ing and that the prices of the necessaries
of life as we'll as the amount OF those
wants will regulate the measure OF their
welfare and comfort; but the reduction OF
taxation demanded should be 20 measured
as not to necessitate or justify either the
loss of employ ment by the worklngmen
or the lessening of his wages; and the
profit still remaining to the MANUFACTURING
after IA necessary read lustment should
furnish no excuse for the sacrifice OF the
interests OF his employers In other their
opportunity TO work or the dlmlnultion
of their compensat on. Nor can the work
er in manufactures understand that while
a high tariff Il claimed to be necessary TO
allow payment of remuneratlVe wages, II
certainly results IN very large increase
in the price OF nearly all sorts OF manu-
features which, In almost countless forms,
he needs for the use of himself and his
family. he receives at the desk of his
employer his wages, and perhaps before
he reaches his home is obliged, IN pur
chase tor family use OF an article which
embraces his own labor, TO return n the
payment of the increasing price which
The tarIn permits the hard earned com
pensation OF many days of toll
now lr AFfL,rS He FARMER.
The farmer and agriculturist who man
ufactures nothing. but who pay the IN
creased price which the tarln I'M
poses upon every agricultural I'm,
plement, upon all he wears and upon all
he uses and owns, except the increase Of
his hocks and herds and such things a his
husbandry produces from the soil, Is III
vlted TO aid in maintaining TIE present
situation. He rs tod that n high duty on
imported wool Is necessary for the beneht
Of those who have sheep TO smear IN order
that tho price of their wool may be IN
creased. They, of course, are not reminded
that the farmer who has no sheep Is, by
this scheme. obliged in his purchases or
clothing and wooden goods, TO psy a
tribute 20 his fellow farmer IA well As TO
tive manufacturer and merchant, nor Is
any mention made of the fact that the
sheep-o wners themselves and their mousse
holds must wear clothing and use other
artl cles manufactured from the wool they
sell at tsrif prices, and thus, a. consum-
ers must return their share OF this IN
creased price TO tradesmen- i think 1t
may he fairly assumed that large pro
portion OF the sheep owned 10y the farmers
throughout the country are found IN small
locks, numbering from % TO a. The duty
on the grade OF imported wool which these
sheep yield Is 10 cents each pound N or the
value of 80 cents or less, and /. cents AZ OF
the value of more than 80 cents. III the
liberal estimate of SIX pounds Toe allowed
Tor each fleece the duty thereon would be
30 or = cents, and this may be taken a the
utmost enhancement of its price TO the
farmer by reason OF this duty. Eighteen
dollars would thus represent the increased
ipTlCe of the wool from - sheep, and SO
that from the wool OF 10 sheep; and at
present values this addition would amount
to about one third of its price. Ii upon its
sale the farmer receives this or a less tariff
profit the wool leaves his hands charged
with precisely that sum which, in all its
changes will adhere To IL until II reaches
the consumer. hen manufactured into
clotn and other goods and material for
use, its cost Is not only increased 10 the
extent of the farmers tarlh proht, but
further sum has been added for the bone
fit Of the manufacturers uuder the opera
tions OF other tarltf laws. In the mean
time the day arrives when the farmer
finds IL necessary To purchase wooden
goods and material to clothe himself and
family for the winter. When he faces the
tradesman for that purpose he discovers
that he is obliged not only TO return in the
way OF increased prices hIs tariff profit on
the wool he sold and which then perhaps
lies before him in manufactured form, but
that he must add a considerable sum
thereto TO meet further increase In cost
caused by tariff duty on the manutac-
ture. Thus, IN the end he il aroused to the
fact that he has paid upon "A moderate
purchase as "A result OF the tariff scheme,
which. when he sold his wool, seemed SO
profitable, an lncre tse IN price more than
sufficient 10 sweep away all the tarlH
profit he received upon the WOO he pro-
duced and sold.
When the number OF farmers engaged
in wool raising - compared with all the
farmers III the country, and the small
proportion they bear 10 our population Is
considered, when IL is made apparent
that the benent of the present tariff on
wool is illusoTy; and. above all, when II
must be conceded that the increase of the
cost of living caused 10y such tariff, be-
comes burden upon those with moderate
means and the poor, the employed aud
the unemplo ed, the sick and well and the
young and DID, and that IL constitutes "A
tux which with restless grasp Is fastened
upon the clothing OF every man, woman
and child in the land, rea sons are suggest
ed WIN the removal or reduction OF this
duty should bo included IN q revision Of
our tariff laws.
COMBINATIONS AND TRUSTS.
In speaking OF the increased cost TO the
consumer of our home manufactures, re-
sulting from a duty paid upon imported
articles of the same description, the fact
is not overlooked that competition among
our domestic producers sometimes has the
effect OF keeping the price of their prod
ucts below the highest limit allowed by
such duty. But Il Is notorious that this
competition is too often strangei by
combinations quite prevalent at this time,
and frequently called trusts, which have
Tor their object the regulation of the sup
ply aud price OF commodities made and